Malcolm Smith (51) suffered a season-ending pectoral tear Saturday and won’t line up this season next to fellow linebackers NaVorro Bowman (53) and Ray-Ray Armstrong (54). - Patrick Tehan - Bay Area News Group

SANTA CLARA>> Kyle Shanahan’s first week of training camp went drama free, a refreshingly unusual twist for 49ers standards. No quarterback controversy. No front-office subterfuge with the coaches. No chaos.

But as Shanahan sat in his tidy office by the practice field, he wasn’t kicking up his feet on the desk, behind which is a bookcase with a commemorative, white football inscribed “20th Head Coach In San Francisco 49ers History.”

“Don’t worry, I’m used to drama,” Shanahan said Friday. “I’m not going to get too comfortable. It’s a matter of time.”

Linebacker Malcolm Smith’s season-ending pectoral muscle is no doubt a blow. But idealist 49ers fans will say this was meant to be, that it sparks Reuben Foster’s coming-out party as their next great, homegrown linebacker.

Losing their most expensive free agent — Smith, a $26.5 million man — before even the first exhibition normally might spell doom. This coming season feels different, and the positive vibes you’ve heard about are prevailing, for now.

This is a team hell-bent on redemption, from embarrassed holdovers and undrafted rookies to a first-time head coach still reeling from the most brutal of Super Bowl defeats.

New faces, new smiles abound at 4949 Marie P. DeBartolo Way. New competition fuels this roster. New energy is valiantly trying to negate last season’s 2-14 record and franchise-worst 13-game losing streak.

Ownership, coaches, players, staff and Faithful-again fans are rightfully encouraged. Saturday’s open practice attracted 25,319 to Levi’s Stadium. That’s a far cry from the 63,156 who showed Saturday night at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field, but it’s a respectable re-start for the 49ers’ sake.

“I felt their excitement just to see us, excitement to see the new era of 49ers we have to present,” linebacker NaVorro Bowman said.

Is this turnaround for real, after a three-year tailspin like the NFL’s never before seen? To believe in it, one must look beyond any one potential savior, be it Shanahan, general manager John Lynch or a draft-night steal in Foster.

Bowman, the fans’ most worshiped active player, is not this summer’s compelling storyline, even as he comes off his second career-threatening leg injury.

Even Colin Kaepernick is an afterthought. Seriously. Their former quarterback still dominates the national news cycle, but he’s not on the lips of ex-teammates who honored him with their top leadership award last season, the Len Eshmont Award.

Most, if not all, sympathize that Kaepernick remains unemployed. But they’re too consumed with learning new schemes, under new management, to secure new paychecks.

On the field, Kaepernick had no chance rallying a dysfunctional franchise back to the winners’ circle. All parties needed a fresh start after 2016, and not just because of his $14.5 million salary, but more so because he didn’t fit Shanahan’s ideal qualifications of skillset for this demanding offense.

Enter Brian Hoyer, a NFL journeyman who’s practiced almost masterfully in reuniting with Shanahan from their tour aboard the 2016 Cleveland Browns. That combo had the Browns 6-3 and tied for first place, the best mark through nine games since the franchise’s 1999 rebirth.

“I’ve been with him, so I knew what we were getting,” Shanahan said. “My thing with Brian is he’s not going to be able to play great on his own, and I don’t know anyone who can.”

Hoyer, honestly, looks capable of admirably leading the 49ers, at least in 2017. He’ll complete deep passes, find the open man, fool defenses with play-action fakes and keep the orchestra in tune.

Added Shanahan: “When you can throw the ball very well, which Brian does, when you can hang in the pocket, when you’re not scared to get hit and keep your eyes down the field, and when you’re smart, you can be a successful quarterback in this league, which he has been.”

So how does Hoyer run the 49ers offense differently than Kaepernick, other than scrambling only three times through seven practices?

“It’s two totally different offenses,” wide receiver Jeremy Kerley answered. “But Brian, with the long play calls, he’s doing a good job to get us in place.

“He’s definitely working outside of just the field,” Kerley added. “He pulls guys aside and watches extra film. He’s doing a good job making sure we’re on a good page the early part in camp.”

Any training camp brings optimism. This one is unrelenting. Players are dreaming big. Undrafted rookies imagine themselves as Hall of Famers. Frustrated veterans are fantasizing about playoffs.

The York-family ownership insists it will be patient this time. Meanwhile, John York and his son Jed are almost daily visitors to practice, pleased to witness an expected transformation.

As the 49ers turn the page from one of the worst chapters in their 71-year history, their new coach is eager to make his next meaningful play call after a Super Bowl collapse.

“I’m always excited to get back and compete,” Shanahan said. “When I sit there and watch (the Super Bowl), which I do a number of times, all I want to do is just go again, and attack.”

He’s not the only one determined to bounce back, succeed and rebuild reputations. All 49ers can relate.